Rush Job

Alfreton Town's Relegation from National League North.

The Impact Arena, The Solana Stadium or The Town Ground.

Founder members of the Conference North with 22 years at step 2 or above in the non-league pyramid, the relegation of Alfreton Town coincided with the transfer of ownership to Will Rush.

Like all relegations it wasn’t one specific detail that was the cause, but a combination of decisions, incidents and occurrences over the season. Here’s my review of 2025/26 and thoughts on why that relegation came about.

The End Of An Era.

On the 3rd June 2025 it was announced the club’s long running takeover got over the line with Wayne Bradley, who had been the architect of the club’s elevation to step 2 and for 4 seasons, the Conference (National League) Premier, selling the club to Will Rush a 27 year old American businessman who lives in Puerto Rico.

Wayne was to remain a director of the club, which was stipulated as a condition of the sale by the football authorities. Despite Wayne remaining on the board and being a constant and reassuring presence for supporters, it did feel like the end of an era after this mostly, successful 27 years as Chairman.

Will and Wayne held a supporters forum on the ground soon after the takeover which I found slightly underwhelming. There were no big plans to splash money about and promises of league football in 5 years, which is not what I was hoping for, we've all witnessed other clubs ambitions see them crash and burn. With Will though it was a little concerning that he needed to push the club globally and attract money that way through streaming games and “selling” the Alfreton Town product to America. I say underwhelming because though there were no brash promises of instant success there were no real plans for improvements to the ground, or specifics on where he expected the club to be in, say, 5 years, however, Will didn't come across as a threat to the clubs existence and supporters were willing to give him a chance and see how he did.

Wayne Bradley (left) & new Chairman Will Rush at the supporters forum.

Pre-Season.

As usual we saw a number of players leave the club over the Summer but the loss of 2 of our joint top scorers from the previous season wasn’t the best preparation for Billy Heath & Mark Carroll.

Jed Abbey, Lewis Salmon & Liam Waldock all scored 13 goals apiece last season and only Lewis remained. Jed was offered terms, but declined them and went for trials at various clubs. When he failed to get a deal elsewhere he reportedly contacted Billy and asked to come back but this was, quite rightly, refused. Jed had no pre-season with us and obviously didn’t want to stay. Liam left on better terms and he got a move into the National League with Boston United.

We had various loan players who returned to their parent clubs;

Matthew Carson returned to Grimsby Town.

Owen German to Altrincham

Luke Matheson to Bolton Wanderers

George Sykes-Kenworthy to York City.

Jake Askew, who had been our reserve keeper since 2022, left the club after filling in admirably for George Willis after his injury.

Jake Day was offered terms, I believe, but had a deal with Bridlington Town lined up and went there for a fee. Ahmed Salam also joined Brid. Two players signed for Wakefield, Akeel Francis and Tom Hinton. The two lads from Canada were also released, Richard Laporte-Guevara and Jeremy Opong. I was told that Richard’s father had bought Dumbarton and he may have joined them but I couldn’t find any trace of him having played for that club.

Jamie Watson also left, he was signed on non-contract terms, as was Tom Hinton, and actually joined Whitehawk in the Isthmian League back in January. Jamie had played for VCD in Kent prior to joining us and seemingly, moved back down south.

Danny Preston had signed on for the season and was given a squad number but never made an appearance. Cosmos Matwasa, unsurprisingly, was released in the Summer after just 1 uninspiring full and 3 sub appearances. He went on loan to Stamford in the January but was back at the club towards the end of last season. The final, and 17^th, player who left in the Summer was Dwayne Wiley who had been fantastic for us in his time here. Dwayne returned to Matlock Town and left with our best wishes.

So, quite a sizeable turnover again, some major players there and a lot of fringe players too. Time for Billy and Mark to wheel and deal and there was the first instance of a decision that affected our season.

The recruitment of players was delayed due to the club takeover not being completed until June. The budget for the following season is usually given to the manager in April but I have been told that this wasn’t agreed until after the takeover and we saw potential targets move to other clubs. I believe this was the first “incident” that had a baring on our season.

Manager Billy Heath, on the right, in discussions with Will & Wayne.

Will’s plans for the club sounded promising, Professional Development Programme (PDP) (U23), giving local players the chance to develop their skills and play for the first team. For a club struggling to attract large attendances this looked like the sustainable future that Will spoke about just after he took over. However, it was rumoured that the money spent on the U23 side was coming from the first team budget. The club have a press release on their website dated 26/01/26 announcing the PDP had been disbanded. If this PDP was funded separately from the first team why did Jake Buxton have to offload players from that team before signing new players.

The U23 players were brought in by Demaro Woodruffe & Ryan Conneely through their Global Performance Academy pathway and funds were provided for them to live locally.

Somehow Billy had to put a side together to compete in National League North (NLN) and as we know he was behind by a couple of months. He did have 12 players retained who were;

George Willis

George Cantrill

Josh Clackstone

Max Hunt

Adam Lund

Gerry McDonagh, who initially turned down new terms but then signed in July.

Nathan Newall

Sam Osborne, though Sam went on loan to Hereford in July 2025.

Harry Perritt

Lewis Salmon

David Solademi

Adam Anson

Billy’s first signing, was Siya Ligendza who turned out to be one of our best players this season. Siya was at Eastbourne Borough the previous season and ended up as our top scorer with 8 goals.

 

Siya Ligendza, Billy Heath's first signing.

Other players to join prior to the season starting were Ben Beresford who was released by Birmingham City and had spent time on loan in 24/25 with Kidderminster Harriers who, reportedly, wanted to sign him, so this was seen as a coup for Alfreton. Owen German signed on loan again from Altrincham, Jack Leckie came in after being released by Hull City and Charlie Gill signed on loan from Notts County but was only an unused sub in the opening game of the season at Bedford Town before returning to his parent club. Terrell Pennant joined on loan from Kettering Town in time to start the season with us.

The U23 players also started for pre-season, Ryan Barrett, probably the best of that squad, he came through the Global Performance Pathway, as did most of the U23 side and was with Mousehole the previous season. Other former Mousehole players to join were Ross Derham & Julio Fresneda. Julio made just 2 sub appearances where we conceded a total of 9 goals, I’m not suggesting he was the reason we conceded that many but it shows the lack of quality in the U23 side that they played so little. Mert Apat signed on the eve of the season, another of the failed U23 side who was with Hashtag United last season.

Kick Off.

There were probably mixed feelings amongst the Alfreton support as we kicked off the season at league newcomers, Bedford Town. We’d obviously lost some talented players, two thirds of the main goals had departed, but we had faith in Billy & Mark and they had kept the nucleus of the side from last season, coupled with the signing of the impressive Ben Beresford and the unknown Siya Ligendza. There was a reliance on the U23 players too though and when they’ve signed from lower down the pyramid it doesn’t instil confidence, the odd player is fine but to have so many unproven at NLN level didn't bode well.

 

Bedford Town the venue for the opening game of the season.

The Bedford game showed promise, a game we should have won according to those that travelled, but for a 93^rd minute equaliser. A point wasn’t too bad for starters and the hope was that we would quickly sort out the defensive frailties that saw us fail to hold on for the win.

Before the next game at home to Darlington Billy signed Joe Dodoo. There were rumours that this signing was forced on Billy by the chairman, apparently he wanted a “big” signing, though in my view to make a “big” signing it’s always best to get someone people have heard of. I looked into this later in the season and, yes, Will did want a name player for the club to raise the profile but it was the management team of Billy & Mark who brought Joe to the table so I don’t believe that this was forced on them. Joe had played in Scotland for Rangers so had some higher level experience. If Billy signed Joe to run around aimlessly with the ball and try to create as little as possible then the signing was a success.

Joe Dodoo on his debut v Darlington.

The hope we had on the opening day was certainly nowhere to be found after the next two games, both at home. A 3-0 beating by Darlington, with Joe Dodoo making his debut, was followed by a 2-0 defeat to the best side I saw at this level this season, South Shields. We hardly had a shot but Billy’s plan was probably to gain a point and stop them from scoring. Shields strike force were formidable so I’m sure we would have been happy with a point only to lose to two late goals. It was early days but that defeat put us bottom of the league, it was only mid August for goodness sake, plenty of time to sort this.

Darlo's 2nd goal in their 3-1 win.

A trip to Macclesfield saw us pick up a point when 3 would have been just rewards for our performance that day and we followed that up in our next home game with our first win of the season, a much welcome 2-0 victory over Marine. We were out of the bottom 4 and up to 18^th, it never got any better than that for the rest of the season.

Adam Lund celebrates his equaliser at Macclesfield.

August ended with a trip to Hereford where we put in a terrible performance, made even worse by Jack Leckie getting sent off, and we suffered a 2-0 loss.

Jack Leckie walks past an unamused Billy Heath after being sent off at Hereford.

The Billy Heath Era ends.

September saw the end of an era as Billy Heath and Mark Carroll were sacked following a 5-0 defeat at Oxford City in the months first game. The departure wasn’t a surprise given the start we had and then such a big defeat at one of the leagues poorer sides. However, Billy & Mark remain Alfreton heroes for what they achieved at the club on very low attendances and Wayne Bradley’s funding. FA Cup runs & play off campaigns all creating fantastic memories for us all made sweeter by the pair being such nice blokes. You just needed to see how they interacted with supporters at games to see that.

 

Billy Heath.

It was a sad day but we knew something needed to change. What we probably wasn’t aware of at that point was how much of an impact the decision to give the budget so late and the terrible decision to fund the U23 side out of the first team funds. None of that were Billy & Mark’s fault and had they been given the funding purely for the first team I believe we wouldn’t have been in the position we found ourselves. 

The Interim Managers.

The day after the Oxford City defeat, and the day Billy & Mark departed, the club announced Demaro Woodruffe & Ryan Conneely would be interim managers supported by Calum Flanagan with senior players George Willis & captain Adam Lund also supporting the squad.

 

Ryan Conneely (left) & Demaro Woodruffe.

The last time we had an interim manager was for the final game of the 2004/05 season when Grant Brown took charge against Stafford Rangers following the departure of David Lloyd. The fixture was lost 3-1 but the strange thing about Grant’s temporary appointment was the retained list. Grant and his assistant for the day Mark Sale were not on the retained list that the club where due to publish before the final game of the season. As it would have looked bad and possibly have an unsettling effect on the players concerned the list was delayed going public for another week and was put out just after the final game of the season.

The first game without Billy Heath at the club was a 1-1 home draw with Kings Lynn Town where a 91^st minute goal from Billy Fewster rescued a point. If that was a sign of hope returning the next game was a massive shock and wake up call as we were beaten easily by Spalding United from the level below in the FA Cup 2Q. This game saw Julio Fresneda make his debut as a sub and David Solademi make his final appearance for us.

 

David Solademi, made just 1 (+4 sub) appearances.

Three new signings were made before the next fixture, at home to AFC Telford United. Jed Abbey was re-signed, a move welcomed at the time by supporters. We knew Jed was a creative player who could score goals, something we were lacking. Austin Samuels also signed and though it was only early September Austin had already been at Rushall Olympic and Spennymoor Town in the first few weeks of the season. The 3^rd signing was Aaron Ketyo-Diyama. Aaron was without a club but was at Wolves U21 the previous season.

Austin Samuels made a great start to his Alfreton Town career scoring the only goal of the game from the penalty spot, the 3 points lifting us above the bottom 4 again. That was our last game in a very brief, playing wise, September but it did see Billy & Mark leave and the Will Rush era really making its mark with the appointment of Demaro & Ryan, admittedly as interim managers.

 

Austin Samuels is fouled and a penalty is awarded on his debut.

October.

The first game in October saw us lose 3-1 at Radcliffe but the big news was that George Willis was leaving to become goalkeeping coach at Sheffield United, managed by former Reds manager, Chris Wilder. Sheff U loaned us Coby Hewitson short term and the Radcliffe defeat being his only appearance. Adam Anson had left before the Radcliffe game and signed for Marine. Adam had played in the majority of games until the defeat at Spalding and never played for the club again.

 

Adam Anson made 7 appearances and scored 1 goal.

Also leaving at the beginning of the months was reserve goalie Myles Wright who didn’t make a single appearance for us. Just after the Radcliffe defeat Ben Beresford was sold to Peterborough Sports, managed by Phil Brown who was in charge at Kidderminster last season when Ben spent time on loan there.

 

Ben Beresford made 2 (+6 sub) appearances.

Myles Wright left in October without making a single appearance.

Demaro & Ryan’s time in charge saw 1 win, a draw and 2 defeats and it’s fair to say some supporters didn’t warm to the duo with an altercation taking place at one game as supporters vented their frustrations.

Yet Another New Era.

Six & half weeks after Billy Heath departed, the club eventually appointed a permanent manager when former Derby County defender, Jake Buxton, was appointed on 17^th October. Jake had been in charge at Burton Albion when they were in League 1 and had spent a brief loan spell with us in 2003 when we were in the Northern Premier League.

 

Jake Buxton.

It was thought that Jake would have time to turn it around and get us out of the bottom 4 and that he would be given extra funds to bring in new recruits. It appears that this wasn’t the case. Jake had to clear out some players to free up some of the budget for new players. I spoke to Will Rush at one game and I mentioned how well Jake had done and the players he brought in had improved the squad, that’s when Will admitted that Jake had to get rid of some before being able to bring new ones in. I believe this was another factor in our relegation. If extra funds had been made available when Jake arrived then we may have got the extra 3 points we needed to stay up.

Jake arrived the day before the away game at Peterborough Sports where Jed Abbey scored for the 2^nd game running to get us a point. This game saw the last appearance by George Willis as he made 1 more appearance as a favour before going on to his new role.

 

George Willis made 12 appearances this season.

Our first home game under Jake saw Chester go home with the points after winning 2-0 here, Harry Burgoyne making his debut for us in goal, he’d been on the books of Shrewsbury & Morecambe and joined us initially until January as he was hoping to get back into the Football League.

 

Lewis Salmon is beaten to the ball by Chester's keeper.

If the Chester result was disappointing the next game was a shocker, a 0-6 defeat at Buxton which will have shown Jake the size of the job and just what he’d taken on.

There was a lot of player movement either side of the Buxton game with 5 players leaving and 3 more newcomers.

Out the door was Julio Fresneda who had made just 2 sub appearances, he went on loan to his former club Mousehole and was eventually released from his contract in January to allow him to join Ramsgate of the Isthmian Premier. Aaron Ketyo-Diyawa was released after making just 1 sub appearance at home to Telford, yet another signing in the Woodruffe/Conneely era that wasn’t up to NLN standard. Aaron eventually signed for FC Haka in Finland in March 2026.

 

Aaron Ketyo-Diyawa made 1 sub appearance.

Also leaving were Terrell Pennant, joining Harborough who gained promotion to the National League North for next season, Austin Samuels who signed for Shifnal after leaving us but very quickly after that signed for Quorn. Lastly for October departures was David Solademi who had done so well for us the previous season. David made just 1 full appearance, the defeat at Spalding, and 4 sub mostly due to an apparent injury. However, while not playing for us due to injury he was seen on TV playing Ballers league and was released from his contract. A poor way to depart and in a side that’s struggling you want your players to be doing their best for you, David, unfortunately, left with supporters feeling he let the club down.

 

Terrell Pennant 1 full & 8 sub appearance.

Austin Samuels, 2 (+1 sub) appearance & 1 goal.

Incoming was Bailey McCann on loan from Barnsley. Strangely, while on loan with us Bailey signed for Doncaster Rovers and the loan was allowed to continue. Harry Hawkins also came as a loan signing from Derby County’s Academy and had helped AFC Telford United get promotion to the NLN. The final new October signing was Taylor Anderson, another loan player, this time from Mansfield Town. 

November.

Supporters needed a response from the players after the 6-0 hammering at Buxton and we got it as November arrived. The first game of the month saw us snatch a draw at home to promotion chasing Kidderminster Harriers thanks to a 96^th minute equaliser from Siya Ligendza. Bailey McCann and Harry Hawkins making their debuts in that game and with Harry Burgoyne in goal we could see the improvements due to the new signings Jake had brought in.

That well earned point against one of the divisions top teams was followed up with a midweek trip to Chorley and a fantastic 1-0 win with Billy Fewster’s 2^nd minute goal being enough to bring all 3 points back home and get Jake his first Alfreton Town win.

Chorley where a Billy Fewster goal won us the points.

Jake continued to add to the squad with goalkeeper James Sissons coming in as cover for Harry Burgoyne. James was a loan signing from Chesterfield, he continued to train with the Spireites and turned up to help out on match days. He signed in time to be named as a sub at the Chorley game and was an unused sub for a further 2 games before returning to his parent club.

The big signing though was striker Mark Beck on loan from Scunthorpe Utd for a month. Mark made his debut as a sub in our next game a 1-0 home defeat to promotion chasing AFC Fylde. Though the defeat was disappointing the performance was an improvement and the signs were there that Jake was making a difference to the side overall.

November was a busy month and it was another midweek game that gained us another 3 points as Spennymoor Town were beaten 2-1. Trailing 1-0 at half time our pressure eventually paid off when Mark Beck, making his full debut, scored in the 84^th minute and Billy Fewster followed up 4 minutes later with the winner. Those points lifted us up to 19^th and out of the relegation zone for the first time since the 20^th September. The fight for survival as on and supporters expected us to kick on now and move up the table.

 

Mark Beck scores the equaliser at home to Spennymoor Town.

Jake offloaded a couple more of the U23 side just after the Spennymoor win with Mert Apat & Ryan Barratt going out on loan. Mert went to Welling United and was eventually released from his contract in February, he made no competitive appearances for the club and was an unused sub on 3 occasions. Ryan joined Stockton Town and was released from his contract in January to allow him to sign permanently for the north east club. Ryan made 4 appearances plus 1 as sub in his time with us.

 

Mert Apat no appearances for the first team.

Ryan Barratt, 4 (+1 sub) appearances.

A break from the league came with a trip to Gainsborough Trinity in the FA Trophy. Trinity were a division below and had some great cup runs in the last couple of years but 2 goals from Mark Beck put us into the 3^rd round.

Jake added to the squad by signing Kieran Wallace who had spent time at Hartlepool the previous season.

A first ever trip to Merthyr Town was next, the Welsh side were having a great first season as they were very much in the promotion hunt and scoring for fun. At their wonderful Penydarren Park the Reds were 2 goals ahead by the 12^th minute. A Mark Beck penalty and a great finish from Siya putting us in control. I was sat pitch side thinking that we had got a good side and how positive this season was now looking. However, by half time Merthyr were level as the football we played that got us the lead had disappeared. A third goal just before the hour and you couldn’t see how we were going to get back into the game but even worse was to follow as we just collapsed in the last ten minutes and Merthyr got another 3 goals  in that time to give us a 6-2 thrashing. From our season looking much brighter at 12 minutes past 3, by 5 o’clock we looked certainties for relegation. A big concern was how the players heads dropped. The defeat but us back in the relegation zone and for the rest of the season we stayed there, never to venture above 4^th bottom.

Two views of the wonderful Penydarren Park, Merthyr.

Siya makes it 2-0 at Merthyr before the late collapse.

Praise must go to the Alfreton Town fans after the Merthyr defeat because the travelling support clapped the team off and shouted encouragement, urging them to move on and forget the game, they knew that they needed the players in a positive mood to stay up. That has been the same all season, support and encouragement from the majority of the support, what a fantastic bunch. 

November ended with a 0-0 draw against Scarborough at Bridlington Town’s ground. Billy Heath & Mark Carroll turned up and got a great reception from the travelling fans.

Devember.

December opened with a trip to Pinxton in the Derbyshire Senior Cup for a first ever competitive meeting between the 2 sides. Pinxton are one of our real grassroots sides who have developed their facilities over the years and provided a club for the locals to be proud of. Alfreton put out a strong side and led after just 2 minutes when a ball into the box was deflected off home defender Hardwick into the net. It wasn’t until the 59^th minute that Alfreton got a 2^nd when Ligendza steadied Reds nerves. Lewis Salmon on 80 and Mark Beck four minutes later sealed a 4-0 win with Beck also missing a 90^th minute penalty.

 

Alfreton take a 1-0 lead at Pinxton in the Derbyshire Senior Cup.

In the league though things weren’t improving, defeats this month away to Curzon Ashton and Worksop Town were poor results and in the Worksop game undeserved. A point at home to Southport in another game we would be expected to win and a  2-1 win at home to Leamington at the end of the month eased fears, a little, Leamington were bottom and the points lifted us up to 21^st.

Alfreton go close at Worksop on Boxing Day.

As the year ended some loan spells finished as Harry Hawkins returned to Derby County and Taylor Anderson went back to Mansfield Town. Both players had been regulars in the side since joining.

Taylor Anderson, 8 (+2 sub) appearances.

Harry Hawkins returned to Derby after making 8 appearances.

Good Business or Embarassing?

During December the owners, through AlphaFC launched a stadium naming vote. Enthusiastic X accounts, presumably involved in the Crypto Currency world debated the voting and the various names at the top. For Alfreton supporters this was a concern that the club would become a laughing stock. This was due to the proposed names being voted on.

The possibility that the ground could be called, The Bonk Bowl, Dikinbaus (which apparently is dick & balls if said quickly and from South Park) or FootyMcFootFace obviously had supporters worried. It also makes you wonder just what the hell the new owner is thinking of if this is what he would accept as a name for the stadium. The Solana Stadium won in the end, but the point is it opened the club up to ridicule throughout the process and questions the ownership model of allowing non football fans the opportunity to vote on club matters.

New Year, New Concerns.

Welcome to 2026 where talk amongst Alfreton supporters was of our chances of staying up. People close to the club said that the manager would be given extra funds to lift us out of the relegation zone. When Will took over in the Summer it was said he wouldn’t have bought it if we’d been relegated to the NPL the previous season. My logic told me he didn’t want a club in that league, so obviously he’ll invest in the team now to keep us up.

During January 4 players were signed and 4 departed which shows that Jake was tasked with offloading players before signing anyone. This isn’t further investment in the team and another contribution to our relegation. It’s easy for me to say an owner should raid their bank balance and fund better players, I understand that there isn’t a bottomless pit of money, however, the reasons we were in this position was due to the decisions made by those in charge (the U23’s for example) and I would have expected some extra funds to be made to offset the money we would lose with relegation.

Jack Leckie went on loan to Gainsborough Trinity and in February it was announced he had been sold to that club. Ross Derham joined Mickleover on loan and this was extended after the initial first month. The biggest loss was Mark Beck who was recalled by Scunthorpe so he could then go on loan to Gateshead with a view to signing permanently at the end of the season. That was a big blow. Lastly, Jed Abbey was released from his contract to allow him to sign for Marine. Jed is a fantastic footballer and performed really well in his first season, unfortunately, after he went in search of another club in the Summer he never achieved the level of performance and commitment once he returned.

 

Jack Leckie 19 (+1 sub) appearances.

Ross Derham 2 (+1) appearances.

Mark Beck, 9 (+2) appearances, 7 goals.

Jed Abbey, 7 (+7) appearances, 3 goals.

Incoming showed that Jake knew how to get good players into the club. Josh Ayres arrived on loan from Rotherham United. Josh is obviously a nice bloke because he supports Chesterfield. He came to watch us at Ilkeston in the Derbyshire Senior Cup prior to signing and was a very good replacement for Mark Beck. Jo Cummings was brought in on loan from FC Halifax Town and made a big difference to the defence as well as contributing some point saving goals. Sam Newell joined after completing a sports scholarship at the University of Charleston in America, he had previously played for local sides Basford Utd, Notts County and Mansfield Town. Lastly, was goalkeeper James Wright who signed as cover for Harry Burgoyne. James has played in Hong Kong and studied at Loughborough University.

Due to the bad weather there was just 4 games in January and typical of the season, it was mostly poor results with a glimmer of hope kept burning with a win. A 1-3 defeat at Darlington wasn’t a surprise but losing 1-2 at home to fellow strugglers, Bedford Town was a disaster. A game in which we were the better side and just couldn’t score enough. 

Bedford keeper clears off the line.

Between the Darlo and Bedford defeats was a loss on penalties to Ilkeston Town in the Derbyshire Senior Cup 4^th round, the trophy we had won the previous season. Defeat meant we were left with just league games to play. In a season of very few cup ties, of the 5 we played, none were at home. The month did end on a high though as struggling Kings Lynn were beaten on their own ground with Josh Ayres scoring his first goal for us.

Gerry McDonagh started at Ilkeston for only the 4th time this season. In our first ten games Gerry started just twice and was used as a sub in 5 other games. At the beginning of the season he looked unfit and lacking in confidence, he was the player that was quickest to get some stick from supporters. He was carrying an injury, apparently, and when Jake suggested he move to another club Gerry refused and wanted to fight for his place. He wasn't in the squad from 4th October to 22nd November, when he did return he was an unused sub at Merthyr. The Ilkeston game was only his 3rd appearance in 4 months but he had come back fitter and did manage to fight, and deserve, his inclusion in the side. Mostly used as a sub, it wasn't unusual to see Gerry come on and hold up play when we needed to keep possession. He was our most improved player and it was good to see he had earnt the respect of supporters.

 

Gerry McDonagh 13 (+19) appearances, 1 goal.

February saw some player movement as we lost goalkeeper Harry Burgoyne who was offered the position of goalkeeping coach at Shrewsbury Town, now managed by former Brackley Town boss Gavin Cowan. This was a setback for our survival hopes but it was a great move for Harry at his former club. This is the 2^nd time this season we’d lost a first team goalkeeper because he was offered a goalkeeping coach job at a pro club. Jake quickly signed goalkeeper Charlie Casper from Burnley on a youth loan.

Harry Burgoyne 23 appearances.

Other new signings this month were Luke Alker on loan from Barnsley where he was captain of their U21 side. Kieron Freeman, a right back, joined after being let go by Hednesford Town, a former pro who had appeared for 11 Football League clubs he made most appearances for Sheffield Utd. Kieron’s corner kicks were something to marvel at and was a great addition to the squad. Two players arrived on loan, Kai Lissimore from Tamworth and Jack Goodman from Mansfield Town.

Playing wise, February was a better month for us as the new signings Josh Ayres and Jo Cummings scored our goals in a 2-2 draw at Chester, a great result at the play off chasers. Defeat at AFC Fylde was followed up with one of our best performances of the season, the return game with Merthyr Town. The Martyrs had sold top scorer Ricardo Rees to Forest Green Rovers last month but were still hopeful of at least making the play offs. In our best performance up to that point in the season we were 2-0 down from a goal either side of the break. To worsen matters Siya Ligendza was taken off injured on the half hour and was to miss the next 11 games. Four minutes after conceding the 2^nd goal though Kieron Freeman on his full debut pulled one back. Relentless Ofton pressure saw Josh Ayres equalise on 87 minutes and followed that up with a 95^th minute winner. It was a deserved win and the performance kept that tiny bit of hope inside us.

 

Josh Ayres scores our equaliser v Merthyr.

Josh Ayres 95th minute winner v Merthyr.

Josh Ayres, 2 goals and a perfect knee slide in the Merthyr game.

After the euphoria of Merthyr we entertained Scarborough Athletic with renewed hope. By the end of the game those of us with receding hair had lost a little more and anyone with a heart condition were advised to seek medical attention. Leading 2-0 going into the added time thanks to goals from Jo Cummings and Josh Ayres Scarborough got a penalty in the 92^nd minute which was converted. This is when the squeaky bum time came in. As the Scarborough players went for the ball to quicken the restart, goalkeeper Harry Burgoyne, playing his last game before taking on his goalkeeper coaching role, had hold of the ball in the back of the net and to keep the Boro players at Bay elbowed one of them in the head. Sent off, obviously, it was time for James Wright to make his only appearance for us by coming on as a sub for the final, frantic few minutes. The Reds heroes hung on for another dramatic win in a season of very few of those.

Jo Cummings (red on left) scores our first goal v Scarborough.

March

As we went into the penultimate month of the season we had 4 & 5 games in hand on the sides above us and were just 3 points from safety, though with a much worse goal difference than others, only Leamington & Peterborough Sports had an inferior difference.

The side immediately below us, Hereford, should have visited on 1^st March but the game was off. Some Hereford supporters stated online that we’d done it deliberately to force them into a Thursday evening game. Hereford being a much bigger area than Alfreton have more idiots than us, and they all seem to have access to WiFi. We also had to play on a Thursday after playing on Tuesday, though I think they had ignored that fact.

March was another bad month with that little speck of hope burning into our souls and slowly killing us. Losses at Kiddy, Telford, Southport & South Shields were tough on supporters. At Southport it looked like Charlie Casper was going to be mostly responsible for a win after he saved everything the Southport attack threw at him after Lewis Salmon had given us the lead. Two goals in the 2^nd half though made sure the points went to the better team on the night, we just couldn’t cope with the amount of attacks the Sandgrounders had. More bad news followed after this game as Josh Ayres was recalled from his loan after Rotherham had appointed Lee Clark as their new manager and he'd asked for Josh to return.

 

Josh Ayres, 10 (+1 sub) appearances, 5 goals.

It was thought our home games would be our saviour so a draw at home to Radcliffe was disappointing on the 10^th of the month. Four days later Peterborough sports went home with the 3 points after beating us 2-0, despite numerous attempts at goal we just couldn't score. This was yet another must win game that we failed to get all 3 points.

Lewis Salmon goes close v Peterborough Sports.

Hope was lifted in the next home game when the Thursday evening rearranged fixture against Hereford was played. A brilliant performance by our lads saw us deservedly win 2-1. Lewis Salmon scoring in the first minute set the tone as we dominated the game, with Kai Lissimore making it 2-0 before half time. This was just 2 days after we’d lost at Southport and Hereford were losing at home to Fylde but the Bulls had rested some players in preparation for our game, you couldn’t tell on the night as we were definitely up for this game.

 

Kai Lissimore's shot beats the Hereford keeper.

Two days later we travelled to Spennymoor and returned with a point from a 1-1 draw, Kieron Freeman scoring direct from a corner. Reds hearts were broken though as Spennymoor equalised with 4 minutes remaining. On the way home from the Spennymoor game the supporters coach broke down and luckily the players coach was able to pick them up and get them safely back to Alfreton. This also saw the final games for Bailey McCann who was recalled from his loan by Doncaster Rovers and Jack Goodman who’s loan from Mansfield Town ended. 
Luke Alker's loan also ended and he returned to Barnsley.

 

Bailey McCann, 18 (+6 sub) appearances, 2 goals.

Jack Goodman, 5 sub appearances.

Jake was soon getting replacements in though and we signed Jack Newall on loan from Burton Albion and Dylan Youmbi who signed from Ilkeston Town, both players made their debut in the 2-0 home defeat to Macclesfield.

The final two games of the month saw us lose 3-0 at South Shields but get a 1-0 home win over Chorley thanks to a 25^th minute winner from Jo Cummings. We ended March in 21^st place, 4 points from safety with 1 game in hand over those above us. March had been a cruel month, defeat to Peterborough and the late equaliser by Spennymoor had been the main points from too few wins in this busy month.

Luke Alker, 1 (+5 sub) appearances.

Alfreton Heroes.

It was revealed in March that the Alfreton Town Supporters Association, re-formed in 2003, had reached the milestone of donating £100,000 to the football club. This is a fantastic achievement by a committed and loyal bunch of supporters who will be there whatever league the club plays in and whoever owns the club. The Association regularly provide transport to away games when some bigger clubs don't even manage this. To go to a Saturday away game is something to be experienced as Mark Thorpe always researches a nearby town to the away side where there's something for everyone. The work the Supporters Association does is part of what makes this club so special. Well done to all concerned, you are the heroes of this football club.

April – Unbeaten but Down.

Four home games and away trips to Leamington & Marine was our schedule in the final month of the season, survival was still very much in our own hands. Good Friday was when Worksop Town visited for the first time in 19 years and did enough to frustrate us and go home with a point, Kieron Freeman scoring direct from a corner again for us.

 

Kieron Freeman's corner kick goes directly into the Worksop net.

Easter Monday saw us travel to already relegated Leamington and we fell behind and were lucky that the Brakes had another goal disallowed. In what wasn’t a great performance we did enough thanks to a penalty converted by Dylan Youmbi and a goal from Adam Lund to secure a 2-1 win.

Oxford City were up next in another must win game for our survival hopes. That took a knock when Oxford took a 7^th minute lead and then Jack Newall was sent off after just 22 minutes. Oxford played the ball around nicely and looked impressive, certainly not a side in danger of going down. Our performance improved in the 2^nd half and we got a point with a Dylan Youmbi goal.

 

Jack Newall is sent off v Oxford City.

Play off chasing Buxton rocked up in our final midweek game of the season and not much was expected from this game. A frantic final 5 minutes before half time saw us take the lead through captain Adam Lund only to see Johnston equalise for the Bucks two minutes later. In added time though we went 2-1 up after Kieran Burton put into his own net. In an end to end 2^nd half Buxton scored to secure a point but ultimately both sides needed the maximum.

 

Adam Lund takes the applause after scoring v Buxton.

By now Peterborough Sports had relegation confirmed as we went into our final 2 games. An away trip to Marine saw us come from 1 down to put in a fantastic 2^nd half performance to eventually win 3-2 thanks to 2 Siya Ligendza goals and a 90^th minute winner from Lewis Salmon.

In the midweek between the Marine game and our final game of the season against Curzon Ashton another bottom 4 club were playing their last game in hand and Hereford beat Marine 2-1 to leave us in 22^nd place on 49 points, 2 from safety, we still had a chance.

 The Last Chance Saloon.

Our final day opponents, Curzon Ashton, were on 51 points, 1 place and 2 points ahead of us and also in the bottom 4. Next was Hereford then Kings Lynn Town also on 51 points. Bedford Town on 52 points couldn’t be caught by us but Curzon could overtake them. So, we needed to win and we needed either Hereford at home to Peterborough Sports or Kings Lynn away to Chester to lose. We knew our best bet was at the Chester game.

There was surprising news when we got to the ground, George Willis was back and starting in goal. Charlie Casper’s youth loan ended the day before and we got George in for his final Alfreton Town appearance.

 

Charlie Casper 15 appearances.

The game was slow to start with, not surprising given what was at stake, but gradually Alfreton started to take control. Dylan Youmbi was causing problems down the left and on more than 1 occasion was barged over with the ref taking no action. The ref did take action though when Dylan was brought down as he tore into the Curzon penalty area. 

Dylan Youmbi isn't fouled, apparently.

The penalty was put away by Siya Ligendza on 22 minutes. 

Siya Ligendza celebrates scoring his penalty v Curzon Ashton.

The wave of Reds attacks continued and when Curzon keeper Ollerenshaw and defender Amado got confused and neither of them took control of the ball in went Lewis Salmon to put the ball into the empty net from an angle, 2-0.

 

Lewis Salmon makes it 2-0.

At half time confidence was high that we’d stay up as, surprisingly, Peterborough Sports were leading 2-1 at Hereford though Chester were goalless with Kings Lynn. It was a great 1^st half from Alfreton with Curzon being 2nd best throughout.

 

A battle for possession.

On 52 minutes Lewis Salmon received Youmbi’s pass and swept the ball between Curzon’s keeper and defender to give us a 3-0 lead. It looked like we would see the game out and maybe pick up a couple more goals as Curzon pushed forward.

Lewis Salmon makes it 3-0

On 65 minutes an innocuous ball into the area saw Tony Weston score a soft looking goal from Alfreton point of view. There still weren’t too many concerns but we needed to pick it up a little now and snub out any hope Curzon had. 

Tony Weston scores Curzon Ashton's first goal.

We had further chances to get a 4^th and then on 83 minutes a beautiful ball from Jimmy Spencer saw Adam Barton power home a header at the far post for Curzon’s 2^nd.

Adam Barton scores a 2nd for Curzon.

It was now panic time as Curzon sensed they themselves may just stay up. It was no surprise by the time Tony Weston got his 2^nd on 99 minutes to make it 3-3. By now Hereford had equalised so even a win would have seen us relegated. For Curzon though a final push to get a winner almost came off, though it was from a breakaway as the game had really opened up as both sides went to win the game, ultimately though neither did and both will be playing Northern Premier League football next season.

 

Tony Weston completes Curzon Ashton's comeback.

The ATFC Coin Sale.

I'm not going to pretend I know about Crypto currency/bitcoin, whatever it is the owner deals in. However, this was the vehicle he wanted to raise capital to fund a football club, it was unusual in England for such a project and we waited to see how this would affect the club.

The sale achieved $169,000 and is a lot of money but it didn't achieve the figures required and everyone who took part, those of us in the UK weren't allowed, received a refund.

You can read more about it in this article

The failure of the ATFC coin sale and relegation has left a cloud over Will Rush's ownership just 12 months after he came in.

What Next?

What is the future of the club now? That's what supporters want to know. Will we have a side that will be expected to challenge for promotion, will we have a side that may face another relegation battle, will the side be funded? All these are questions that supporters are asking on social media because the club is not making any comments on the future until it gets asked about it by Ed Dawes on Radio Derby.

I contacted the club for an interview with Will Rush after the season ended. I wanted to get his thoughts on the season and his plans for the future, so I could give a more rounded picture in this review. After agreeing to the interview and, between us, deciding on a date of Monday 4^th May, sometime in the afternoon or early evening UK time, the interview, unfortunately, never happened. I sent Will a Whatsapp message on Monday morning trying to sort a definite time but got no response. The following day I e-mailed Will asking if we could set another date, but again, no response.

These were the things I wanted to discuss with Will;

The decision to fund the U23 squad at the expense of the first team budget.

·      Why was Jake made to clear out players before being able to strengthen the squad?

·      Would Jake be manager next season?

·     Is Funding in place for next season & what are the expectations?

?·   Did Will plan to sell the club

·     Are there any plans to improve the ground & spectator facilities

·   On 28^th April the club put out a press release stating that their commitment remains unchanged in what was a basically corporate message, it talked in general terms with no real detail “There is work to do. We need to reset, continue to build and make sure the club is ready for the challenge ahead. That means making difficult decisions, improving the way the club operates and putting Alfreton Town FC in the strongest possible position to compete. We are disappointed but we are not walking away”

The above snippet from the press release raises questions in itself, what does Will mean by a reset? What are the difficult decisions? We know that when we hear about difficult decisions it means cutbacks. How are they intending on improving how the club operates?

I know that decisions made are not always immediately communicated but surely letting fans know when these can be known would be a reasonable expectation rather than let supporters think the worst and make their own speculations.

Will then did an interview with Radio Derby. I thought reporter Ed Dawes was excellent and asked some challenging questions, Will himself appeared to be open and honest and answered the questions but then he failed to mention that the club was for sale even though it had been listed prior to the interview. That doesn’t give supporters any confidence in an open dialogue with the owner especially as it was leaked a few days after Will’s initial Radio Derby interview about the club being for sale, you only have to look at the “Come On Ofton” Facebook page to see how it upset Alfreton fans.

Finally in this communication saga, The club put out an open letter to supporters following the announcement by Radio Derby that the club was for sale but not because of relegation but because Will couldn’t fund it alone. Given he only bought the club a year ago it’s a pity he found out 12 months too late. I know his intention was to promote the club globally and hope to raise funds via the ATFC coin but it begs the question, what was Will’s plan B? I don't doubt that Will had good intentions but those good intentions have seen us lose our step 2 status.

Will is no Ryan Reynolds but who is? Not many clubs have owners Wrexham have got. He’s no Dejphon Chansiri either, but he is responsible for the running of the club in a season when we have been relegated from National League North, because it was his decisions throughout his tenure that contributed to the demotion.

Communication by the club has deteriorated since the Curzon Ashton game. Who remembers the regular newsletters the club put out explaining player movements and other club info? These seem to have abruptly stopped. The announcement about Jake Buxton staying was only put out following Will stating this on Radio Derby. No other news is coming out, I know the retained list has to be communicated by a certain date so having it a week or so after the season isn't the norm. However, there is no news about pre-season friendlies or season ticket prices. These are messages that clubs are quick to tell supporters about, but at Alfreton these aren’t being published and it’s things like this that concern fans because they suspect there are no plans, they worry that the listing of the club for double what Will paid for it is unrealistic. Fans deserve better and things need to improve.

Player Stats.

George Cantrill, 41 (+3 sub) appearances, 1 goal.

Injuries restricted Josh Clackstone to 1 (+5 sub) appearances.

Jo Cummings, 16 (+1 sub) appearances, 4 goals.

Joe Dodoo, 14 (+11 sub) appearances.

Billy Fewster, 26 (+4 sub) appearances, 4 goals.

Kieron Freeman, 16 (+2 sub) appearances, 2 goals.

 Adam Lund, (+2 sub) appearances, 3 goals.

Max Hunt, 47 (+2 sub) appearances, 3 goals.

Nathan Newall, most appearances 50 (+1).

Top scorer Siya Ligendza, 28 (+9) appearances, 9 goals.

Dylan Youmbi, 6 (+3 sub) appearances, 2 goals.

Harry Perritt, 28 (+2 sub) appearances.

Kieran Wallace, 8 (+3 sub) appearances, 1 goal.

Lewis Salmon, 31 (+13 sub) appearances, 7 goals.

Owen German, 4 (+3 sub) appearances.

Kai Lissimore, 14 appearances, 1 goal.

Jack Newall, 6 (+1 sub) appearances.

Sam Newell, 10 (+8 sub) appearances.

Sam Osborne (on left), 1 (+2 sub) appearances.

Jacob Scott, 4 (+1 sub) appearances.

James Wright, 1 sub appearance.